As teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in the Bay Area, Project Helping Oakland Prevent teen pregnancy via Education (H.O.P.E.) aims to empower Oakland youth to make healthy choices and life decisions they can be proud of.

Funded by the Office of Adolescent Health, Project H.O.P.E. was awarded a five-year grant to aid in its efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and educate youth about the risks of unprotected sex.

Project H.O.P.E. Director Jesus Verduzco said he has a passion for working with the community in ways that will enable youth to have a higher quality of life.

“I hope to empower young people so that they transfer the education Project H.O.P.E. provides into every aspect of their lives,” he said.

Oakland had 371 teenage births in one year—Latina teens had the highest birth rate of 66 per 1,000, followed by African Americans at 49 births for every 1,000, according to the Alameda County Public Health Department—the need for exposure to sexual education at a young age is a must, said Verduzco.

Dr. Arnoldo Chavez, Director of the Community Challenge Grant has worked closely with Verduzco in overseeing the take-off of Project H.O.P.E.

“The reality is that young people are hearing about sexual behaviors,” said Chavez. “Studies show that if we don’t talk to [youth] at an early age, they’ve already made their choices.”

According to the Alameda County Public Health Department, teen births in Alameda County have increased over nine percent in the past two years, the first increase in almost a decade.

Approved by the Oakland Unified School District, the two-week program will be launched district wide throughout 18 middle schools in Oakland come fall.

The H.O.P.E. Initiative has teamed up with Girls Incorporated of Alameda County, Asian Health Services and Alameda County Public Health Department to reach out to all middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District.

Now in its second year, Project H.O.P.E. will soon roll out its “Making Proud Choices” curriculum, which aims to deliver comprehensive sexuality education for sixth grade youth.

While the program is not mandatory, participation requires the approval of each middle school principal prior to the teaching of the curriculum in a given classroom.

The curriculum introduces youth to the risks of unprotected sex and concentrates on increasing teen knowledge regarding HIV, sexually transmitted infection, and pregnancy.

Consisting of hands on activities, lecturing and videos, the curriculum addresses the different learning styles of students and was specifically tailored to Oakland youth, said Verduzco.

“We had to deal with curriculum adaptation,” Verduzco said. “We wanted to make the program something that young people can connect with.”

To ensure the curriculum was “culturally appropriate” for sixth grade youth, Verduzco and his team launched a pilot workshop for Oakland’s Montera and Frick Middle Schools as well as Urban Promise Academy students.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see the positive response we got back from teachers and students,” said Verduzco. “Sometimes the topic can be a bit controversial because we’re talking about sexuality with young students.”

Nearly 15 years ago, founder Julie Garcia established Project H.O.P.E. to reach out to youth in need of guidance.

Beyond their most current efforts, the H.O.P.E. collaborative offers parents educational sessions that focus on parent-child communication and cultural awareness clinics that enable Oakland and the surrounding areas youth to share information about their culture.

“[Project H.O.P.E.] serves the very important purpose of educating young people about sexual education” said Andrew Chin, health services trainee. “We hope to impact the lives of several youth.”